The Past
by ExoticBlueJewels
Summary: What if Shira and Diego knew each other before the events of the Continental Drift? What if they grew up together, in the same pack? What if Shira was supposed to be mates with Diego's old pack leader and brother Soto? What is the past of these two? If you read this, you'll be sure to find out. (I do not own anything, except for my OC's.)
1. The Birth of Silver and Gold

**Chapter 1: The Birth of Silver and Gold**

**Hey, there! I decided to try a multi-chapter fanfic. :)**

**I hope it's okay. (I am absolutely positive that it absolutely sucks, but... whatever!) This is just kind of the prologue of the story. This hardly has anything to do with Diego and Shira yet (just them being born)…. But, they will come! I hope you like it! :D **

**_(I DO NOT OWN ICE AGE! _****Man, is that annoying! But, yea I do not own it! Unfortunately…)**

* * *

"So, how many cubs do you think you'll have?" asked a beautiful, grey-furred female saber with sparkling, dark-blue eyes. "I don't know. Maybe three or four?! I hope I don't have too many. Not, that I don't love kids; it's just, I don't know how many kids I can handle!" a light-orange female saber, who had piercing, lime-green eyes, replied.

The silver sabress' name was Bela, and the sabress with orange fur's name was Cameron. They were both pregnant and expecting to have the cubs very soon.

"I agree. I'm not sure how Dylan would cope with having too many cubs", Bela stated, giggling.

Dylan was Bela's mate. Cameron's mate's name was Ricardo. Ricardo was the pack leader, and a good one at that. Dylan was his second-in-command.

"Ricardo either. He hardly has enough time for me, let alone cubs, being that pack leader and all. –And our pack is pretty large." Cameron said, sighing.

"Yeah. Well, I better get back to my cave. Dylan will be wondering where I am. You wouldn't believe how over-protective he is of me now that I'm pregnant!" Cameron just laughed. "No, I'm serious. It's like he thinks I'm made of glass or something. Anyways, I'll see you later!" Bela said, bid her friend a goodbye, the two parted; and they made their way back to their mates.

**(*At midnight, that night, in Bela and Dylan's cave*) **

At precisely midnight, Bela woke up with a stabbing pain in her stomach. She gasped and held her stomach tightly. She felt another wave of pain come over her and groaned. She shoved her mate roughly, who was sleeping soundly beside her, and said his name. Dylan didn't wake up, but merely rolled over and said something that could have been 'five more minutes, mom'.

Another wave of pain came over her, worse than before, and she screamed. That woke him up. "Wha- Bela! What's wrong?" he asked her frantically.

"The cubs! THEY'RE COMING!" she hissed, through gritted teeth.

"What? Now?!"

"YES!" she screamed, scaring him a little.

Just then, two figures ran into the cave. "What's going on? We heard yelling!" the female of the two asked. It was Cameron. The other figure, who had a dark orange pelt and dark brown eyes that looked like chocolate, was Ricardo, Cameron's mate.

"The cubs are coming!" Dylan, who had fur slightly darker than Bela's and light blue eyes, replied in a worried tone.

They heard Bela scream again. "Cameron!" Bela breathed. "It's okay, Bela. I'm here", she replied soothingly to the silver tigress.

Cameron turned to Dylan. "Dylan, why don't you go with Ricardo to get Bela some water?!" she said to Dylan who was calmly stroking his mate's arm, trying to comfort her.

"No. I'm not leaving Bela!"

"Dylan, please go. I love you dearly, but I need female companionship right now!" said Bela in the nicest way possible. Hey, she was kind of in pain, and she couldn't say anything without sounding like she was furious.

Dylan sighed and nodded. He quickly kissed the top of Bela's head and left with Ricardo to search for water and explain to the sabres, who had been woken up by Bela's screaming, what was happening.

"It's okay, Bela. Just breathe. It'll be over before you know it!"

**(With Ricardo and Dylan)**

The two male sabers had explained what was going on to the pack and were currently at a small pond getting water for Bela. "I'm not sure if I'm ready to be a father", Dylan sighed as he scooped up water in a turtle shell. "What if… What if I'm going to be a bad father? I haven't got a clue what I'm doing…" he rambled on.

Ricardo looked at his friend and second-in-command sympathetically.

"Hey, everything will be fine! You are going to be a great father", Ricardo said to Dylan with a smile.

Dylan returned the smile. "Thanks, buddy!" Dylan replied, calming down a little.

They both made their way back to the cave where Bela was currently giving birth.

**(With Bela and Cameron)**

"Come on, Bela. You can do it!" Cameron encouraged her friend.

Bela had already given birth to four female cubs. She had one more cub to go. After a lot of effort, the cries of the last cub were heard. It was also a girl. Her cubs were all pressed against her stomach, drinking her milk.

"Good job!" Cameron whispered to Bela.

"Thanks", Bela replied, tiredly.

Bela had given birth to five, healthy cubs, who were, surprisingly, all females. The eldest had light grey fur with very dark-gray stripes, almost black, and the second born was a pretty, sandy colour. The third born was the same colour as her father, the fourth born was light orange and the youngest was pure white with a vibrant orange, lightning-like stripe that ran from her short, little tail to her cute, tiny ears. They were all beautiful, but there was no doubt that the most gorgeous cub was the oldest.

Bela was waiting for Dylan, so they could name the cute, little fur-balls.

Suddenly, Dylan and Ricardo bolted into the cave with the water.

"How is she?" Dylan asked Cameron, while Ricardo gave Bela the water, who lapped the water up with her tongue. Ricardo was blocking the way, so Dylan couldn't see how she was doing.

"She's fine. Take a look" she replied, gesturing to Bela.

Ricardo moved out of the way, and Dylan looked at the sight with adoring eyes. He saw his beautiful mate with five, adorable cubs against her stomach.

"We have to name them, you know", she said quietly. She smirked when she saw a tear come to her 'big and strong' mate's eye.

"Hey, is the tough guy crying?" she asked him teasingly.

"Never!" he said with a smile.

Cameron and Ricardo decided to give the two some privacy and left.

"They're beautiful", Dylan stated as he laid down beside his mate, looking fondly at the cubs.

"I know. So, what should we name them?" Bela asked him.

"I was thinking Chasity for the youngest", he said, referring to the white cub with the orange stripe. "It means 'Pure' just like her pure white fur."

"I love it!" Bela agreed.

"Why don't you name the second youngest", he offered, referring to the light orange cub.

Bela decided on Donna for the golden cub. The two named the third-born Allison and the second-oldest: Cecelia.

Then, they came to the eldest. Dylan gasped when he saw how beautiful she was. She looked perfect in every way possible to him.

"I can think of a name for the first-oldest", he said, not taking his eyes off the gorgeous sight before him.

"What name?" Bela asked.

"Shira." He said fondly. "It means 'Our Song'."

"I love it. Our little song", Bela giggled. "I can't wait to see all their eyes."

They both sighed in happiness. They were very excited to be parents.

But, all the lovely silence was interrupted with a piercing scream coming from the cave next to them. "Oh no, that sounded like Cam!" Bela said frantically.

"You stay here with the cubs. I'll go and see what's wrong with Cameron", Dylan told Bela.

She nodded and he ran off to see what was wrong with their friends.

**(With Cameron and Ricardo –Set after they left Bela and Dylan's cave) **

"Well, that was fun!" Cameron stated sarcastically.

"Definitely!" Ricardo responded smirking. Who wouldn't want to witness childbirth?

"I'm just… more scared now. I mean, she looked like she was in SO much pain…" Cameron said to Ricardo, looking down at the bulge on her stomach.

"Hey, you'll be okay. Everything will go just fine!"

"Thanks." She smiled at him.

They had just stepped in front of the cave when Cameron felt a strong kick inside her stomach and winced.

"Are you okay?" Ricardo asked, concerned.

"Yeah. Just a kick", she replied.

They both laid down and cuddled together. Ricardo started playing with Cameron's ears, and she said, smirking, "Hey, quit it, R." He smiled at her. She smiled back. But, that smile didn't last for long. It was broken by a strong wave of pain. She screamed.

"Cam, what's wrong?" he asked her frantically.

"The-the c-cubs are c-coming" she stuttered, panting. She screamed again and Dylan came running into the cave.

"What's wrong? I heard screaming!" he asked.

"The cubs are coming!" Ricardo replied, who was experiencing Déjà vu.

"What are we going to do? Bela has to stay with your cubs. I don't know anything about childbirth!" he asked Dylan, panicking

"Get. My. Mom!" Cameron ordered, still panting.

Dylan nodded and left to find Cameron's mother, Emily. Ricardo stayed with Cameron trying to calm her down.

"It's going to be okay, Cam!" Ricardo assured the poor tigress who was experiencing the most pain she had ever been in.

**(Around three hours later)**

Ricardo and Dylan were outside the cave.

Dylan had come back with Emily, and he and Ricardo were ushered outside, despite their protests.

It had been around three hours, since the charade had started. Dylan went back for two hours to see his mate, who had just birthed cubs herself, but he returned to give his friend moral support.

Dylan was currently lying down, looking bored and wincing once in a while when he heard one of Cameron's piecing screams. Ricardo was pacing back and forth and was beginning to tire.

They heard once last scream and a cub's cry. Then, there was silence.

"Ricardo", voice coming from the cave called. It was Emily's. "Ricardo, Cameron would like you to come in now!"

Ricardo took a deep breath and entered the cave, only to see the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. He saw his mate with five cubs pressed against her stomach. The cubs were all males.

He hesitated, but slowly made his way over to his mate and cubs. He nuzzled Cameron gently, then looked at the five balls of fur fondly. All the cubs were adorable. The first born was a dark orange colour, like his father and the second born was a few shades lighter than the first born. The third born had the same pelt as the first born, the fourth had a sandy-coloured pelt (but it was slightly darker than that) and the youngest had an orange pelt that almost looked brown.

They were all very adorable cubs, but the most handsome cub was the second born, without a doubt.

"We've got to name them, you know!" Cameron told Ricardo.

"Right. I think the youngest should be named Zeke", he said to her.

"Zeke…" she said softly, testing out the name. "I love it." She smiled.

They named the fourth cub that was born Lenny and the third-born: Oscar.

"Alright, why don't I name the second born and you name the first born", she said and he agreed. "The first-born will be pack leader one day, so it better be good!" she teased him.

She was correct when she said the first born would be pack leader, when the time came. That is how it worked. The first born of the current pack leader would be the next one and the second born would be the second in command.

Ricardo decided on Soto for the first born, and Cameron named the second born Diego, after her grandfather.

They both smiled and called for Dylan. Dylan was in awe when he saw the quintet of fluff balls. He agreed that the most handsome cub was Diego, but told them they were all adorable.

After a lot of chatting, Dylan left.

All was peaceful. The silver moon was vanishing and a golden sun had come up. The two families slept peacefully until very late in the afternoon, because of what had happened that night.

Silver and Gold.

* * *

**Hello, again. So... was it good?**

**Crash: I thought it totally sucked! Where was I?**

**Me: Hey! Crash? You aren't even in this story!**

**Crash: Yea, and I feel very rejected.**

**Me: *Sigh* Please review, so Crash will cheer up! **

**_(I DO NOT OWN ICE AGE!_**** Just thought you should know… ;)**


	2. A Tree, a Fight and Pack Leader

**Chapter 2: A Tree, a Fight and Pack Leader**

* * *

"Diego, if you don't get down here right now, I am telling Auntie Cameron!" a female voice shouted.

You see, Diego, being the little dare-devil he always is, had climbed up a tree!

The ten cute, little fluff balls, we last heard of, have grown to be around eight years old (in human years). (**A/N ~I am just going to count their 'years' by using human years. Cat years are way too complicated for me. :P**)

They had all opened their eyes around eight days after birth.

Shira had opened her eyes first, to reveal two mesmerizing, aquamarine eyes. Cecilia had dark blue eyes (almost purple), Allison had dark brown eyes, Donna had light green eyes and Chasity had sapphire-blue eyes.

Diego had opened his eyes first, out of his brothers, and they were a beautiful emerald-green colour. The rest of his brothers all had green eyes too, but their eyes were more hazel-green.

After around two weeks, they had all started to walk.

The first one to talk was Chasity. She had somehow gotten stuck in a tree (like Zeke in Ice Age 1) and called for help. She had said 'daddy; help!' in the cutest little voice you could ever imagine. Of course, he didn't really hear, since she was only a small cub with a small voice, but luckily her Aunt Cameron had conveniently come along and helped her out of the tree.

The other cubs had started to talk soon after that also.

Anyways, let's get back to the story:

"No way! This is too cool! And plus: all our parents are out hunting. So, you can't tell on me to my _mommy_!" Diego yelled back.

"Fine. Then, I'll just tell Silas and he'll get you down!" The female voice shouted back. The voice was Donna. Donna was a bit of a goody-goody and had grown to be tad bossy.

_"I'll just tell Silas and he'll get you down!_" Diego mocked her in a girly voice.

Donna didn't respond and left in a huff to get Silas.

You are probably wondering who Silas is. Well, Silas is a bird (the one from Ice Age 4). Yea, I know, I know! A bird watching sabers is kind of weird, but in their case possible. Ricardo, Diego's dad and the pack leader, was hunting one day and caught a bird. Just as he was about to kill it, the bird said something that made a light bulb flick on inside Ricardo's head. The bird said, and I quote, "Please don't eat me! I'll do anything! I'll brush your teeth; I do daycare! I make a great assistant too!" Ricardo took interest in the last offer and made the bird his assistant. He thought it wasn't a bad idea; the bird could be a look out for threats to the pack, and he was an option for a babysitter, or in their case a 'cub-sitter'.

**(With Donna)**

While she was looking for Silas, Donna bumped into something white and soft.

She made an 'Oof!' sound and fell on her stomach.

"Oh, sorry, Donna!" the white thing said in a beautiful voice. It was Shira.

Donna looked up and saw her big sister.

"Hi, Shira. Sorry for bumping into you. I was just looking for Silas; have you seen him?" she replied, while slowly getting back up.

"No. Sorry. Why are you looking for him?"

"Well, you see, Diego kind of climbed a tree."

"Seriously?" Shira asked, while rolling her aquamarine eyes. "Not again. That moron! You keep looking for Silas, and I'll try to deal with Diego. What tree is he in?"

"He is in the big one next to our cave."

"Thanks."

The two dispersed. Shira went to go knock some sense into Diego, and Donna went to find Silas. (You see, saber cubs/or kids can climb trees very well, but it is very hard for them to get down without help from an adult.)

Donna kept on searching for Silas and found him lounging on a rock in a small clearing, with his wings crossed behind his head, watching Allison and Oscar play-fight. Zeke, Lenny, Soto, Chasity and Cecilia were also lounging around watching the two play-fight. Well, kind of 'play'-fight. Oscar had made Allison mad by saying that she was too weak to beat a _big, strong warrior_, like himself. Well, that ticked her off. She immediately, after him saying that, attacked him. She wasn't looking out to kill, just to prove herself to him. The other saber-kids and Silas knew not to get involved: for Allison had the worst short-temper in the whole pack and 'revenge' was her middle name.

"Silas!" Donna called out. Silas shot up from his comfortable position and looked around frantically, worried that one of the kids was in trouble.

But, everything seemed to be in order. He saw Donna trekking up to him and smiled.

"What's up, Mon ami?" he asked her in his French accent.

"Two things: one, you are very bad cub-sitter. There were three of us missing this whole time and I come to see you lounging on a rock and…"

"Wait, what?!" he asked her, eyes wide.

"Yeah. How long has it been since you saw me, Diego and Shira?" Silas face palmed.

"Yeah. Anyways… Two: Diego climbed a tree, _again_!"

Silas sighed in annoyance.

"That kid just can't stay out of trouble!" he replied. "You stay here. I'll go deal with him!"

"Okay. He's in the big tree by our cave."

"Got it!" And with that, he flew off, but not before yelling to Cecilia, "Cece, you're in charge until I get back!" Cece was Cecelia's nickname. She was given the position of being in charge, since she was the oldest of the cubs that were in the clearing. Technically, she was the second oldest and Shira was the first oldest, but Shira wasn't there.

She nodded and Donna went to join the crowd who were watching the fight between Allison and Oscar.

**(With Shira)**

After her encounter with Donna, Shira made her way to where Diego was.

When she found him, she saw him on a large tree branch, trembling, and she smirked.

"Having fun?" she called up to him sarcastically. Oh, yeah! She was enjoying this.

"Oh, h-hey, Shir. Yeah. I am having so much fun. This is so cool!" he said back, trying to save his pride. But, unfortunately for him, Shira saw right through his not-so-well-played act. (Shir was Shira's nickname.)

"Uh huh! Well, if you're having so much fun, then I guess I'll just leave then…" she said and started to walk off.

"Wait!" he called, then paused. "I'm stuck…" he mumbled quietly and shamefully.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you!" she yelled back teasingly.

"I'm stuck!" he yelled, annoyance filling his voice.

"Yeah, I can see that Softie!"

"What did you just call me?"

"Softie. You are pretty soft for a saber!" she called back smugly.

"Hey! I happen to be a remorseless assassin!"

"Uh huh… But, I'm pretty sure that a remorseless assassin wouldn't be in your position right now!" she shouted, trying to hold back giggles.

Diego was about to reply when the two sabers heard a voice with an accent.

"You sure have gotten yourself in quite a pickle, Mon frère."

"Silas?" Shira called.

"Oui! And I see that Diego has gotten himself in trouble, once again."

"Obviously! How are we going to get him down?" Shira asked the blue-footed bird.

"Hey! Less chit-chat! Saber holding on for his life here!"

"Well, Diego, I can't get you down and I wouldn't risk asking any of your brothers or friends to come help. They would probably get stuck also. So, I am going to have to go find your parents…"

"NO!" he shouted, piercing Silas and Shira's ears. "My mom will kill me…"

Just then he heard a crack and cocked his head to the side in confusion.

The three all gasped when they saw that the branch Diego was on had cracked a little.

"Ahh! But not if I get killed by falling first! Help, guys!"

"Oh. My. Gosh. Diego! Silas, what are we gonna do?!" Shira asked him frantically.

"I-I don't know, ma soeur!"

"Silas, this is not the time for you to be spitting out random French-" she was interrupted by another cracking sound and a scream.

The tree branch broke, and DIEGO WAS FALLING!

Shira screamed and Silas yelled, "DIEGO!"

Diego was in mid-air when a large, orange animal leaped up and caught Diego, by the neck, in their mouth.

He was saved! By…

Cameron.

She landed gracefully on the ground in front of Silas and Shira and gently put Diego on the ground.

Diego sighed in relief.

"Well, that was a close one…" he started but was interrupted by an 'Ahem!' from Shira, who was looking at him with large eyes. 'Turn around!' she mouthed.

Diego slowly turned around, expecting it to be one of the high-ranked sabers of the pack, but what he saw made him gulp.

"Uh… hi, mom! How was your hunting trip?" he asked the angry saber nervously, with a fake smile.

"What was that, Diego? Why were you falling from a tree? Silas, you were supposed to be a responsible babysitter! And Shira, why was he in a tree in the first place?" she said in a stern tone.

The three gulped, and Shira spoke up.

"Well, you see Auntie Cameron, I-I was with the others when Donna came up to me and told me that Diego had climbed a tree… again."

Diego glared at her.

"Diego! I told you not to climb trees! You can when you are older, but not now!" Cameron scolded him.

"Sorry, mom…"

Cameron took a deep breath and smiled. "It's fine. I know you like to be a little dare-devil, but some things just aren't safe, okay?"

"Okay… thanks for saving me, mom…"

"You're welcome. So, Silas, where are the rest of the kids?" Cameron asked the trembling bird.

"Look, Cameron, I'm sorry I let Diego climb that tree. He just, kind of, sneaked away. And then Donna did, then Shira…"

"Its fine, Silas. I know having ten kids to look after is hard. I have trouble taking care of five of them." She smirked.

Silas sighed, relieved that she wasn't mad and smiled.

"Anyways, where are the kids?" Cameron asked him again.

"Uh, they are in the clearing near the waterfall."

"What were they doing while we were gone?"

"Uh, well… at first we were playing a nice game of tag, then hide and seek, but then they all stopped to talk and Oscar said to Allison-"

He was cut off there. "Oh, no! Did they get into another fight? What was it this time?"

"Um… well…"

"Never mind… let's go split them up!" she told the three and they made their way to the clearing.

**(With Donna and the rest of the cubs) **

Silas had just left, and Donna walked up beside Soto.

"Hey, Soto!"

"Oh, hi, Donna!"

"What are they fighting about this time?" Donna asked Soto, referring to Allison and Oscar, who were still at it.

"Let's just say Oscar said some _things_ to Allie…" (Allie was Allison's nickname.)

"Oh… Well, shouldn't we break them up? I know they're both pretty strong, but I'm sure six other sabers can handle them…"

"Well, we thought about that, but they were kind of entertaining to watch, so…"

"Seriously?"

"Heh, heh… yea. Anyways, where did Silas go? And Diego and Shira?"

"I bet they went on a little date!" a voice said from behind them. The voice started to laugh.

They turned around to see Zeke rolling on the grassy-ground, laughing uncontrollably.

Soto couldn't help but let out a couple giggles too, but Donna just rolled her lime-green eyes.

"Yea right! Those two hate each other's guts!" Donna replied.

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that! I think Diego likes her!" Chasity remarked, joining the three.

"Sure he does…" said Donna.

"No, really! I mean, he's always smiling at her, and making sarcastic comments towards her and-"

Chasity was interrupted by a voice yelling, "Allison! Oscar! Separate!"

The small group, including Cecelia and Lenny, turned around to see Allison and Oscar quickly step away from each other; and three sabers and a bird come into the clearing.

The voice was Cameron.

Cameron, Diego, Shira and Silas went over to where Allison and Oscar were fighting, not even taking one glance at the other saber-kids.

Cameron looked sternly at the two and said, "What is going on? I want answers!"

"It was all Oscar's fault, Auntie Cam! He said that I was weak and then pounced on me!" Allison said in the sweetest voice she could manage, and made her eyes wide, trying to look innocent.

"I attacked YOU?! YOU attacked ME!" Oscar shouted at her.

"Stop it, you two! From what I hear, you are both at fault! You two just can't stop can you?" Cameron said in a disappointed tone.

"Sorry, mom…" Oscar mumbled.

"This just isn't my day! One of my cubs got stuck on a tree branch and almost fell, and then another one of them started a fight!"

"But, mom! Allison started it!"

"ME? It was all your fault! You insulted me! I was merely defending my honor!" Allison yelled at him.

"Why you little-"

"ENOUGH!" Cameron shouted, and some of the kids shrank back in fear. "What is with you two? Why are you always fighting?"

"I can answer that!" Zeke said smugly, smirking. "They like each other!"

"What is with you and the match-maker stuff?" Donna asked him, rolling her eyes.

"Me? Like her? HA!" Oscar said, bursting into laughter.

Allison just glared at Zeke… and Oscar.

Cameron was about to say something, when three adult sabers ran into the clearing.

"Is everything alright? We heard yelling!" Dylan asked Cameron.

The other two sabers were Bela and Ricardo.

"Oh! Shira, Cecelia, Allison, Donna, Chasity! Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Bela asked her daughters worriedly.

"We're fine, mom. It was the two morons yelling!" Shira said, rolling her eyes. Her mom could be really over-protective sometimes.

"Shira! How many times have I told you not to call others morons?! It isn't very nice! -And what 'morons'?" Bela scolded her white-furred daughter.

"Allison and Oscar. They were fighting… again. Allison got mad when Oscar said something to her."

"Allison Mae! I thought we talked about controlling your temper!" she said, using her daughter's full name.

"Sorry, mommy…" Allison said, not daring to make eye-contact with her mother.

"It's alright…" Bela replied softly.

"Alright! Enough of this… We have a surprise for you kids!" Ricardo said trying to break the tension. He could see that the other cubs felt awkward witnessing all the scolding, so he stepped in.

"What is it?" Cecelia asked her 'Uncle R'.

"Well, we are holding a campfire party tonight!" (There was a saber in the pack who had discovered how to create fire by rubbing special rocks together. So, they had lots of campfire parties.)

All the cubs cheered.

**(That night, at the campfire party)**

The pack was in the small clearing near Crysty Waterfall, all sitting by a small fire. (The waterfall near the clearing was named 'Crysty Waterfall' by Shira when she was a small cub. She saw the crystal-looking water and thought it was a suitable name for it.)

"Mom, can we listen to stories?" asked a saber-cub named Alana. Alana was a daughter of one of the high-ranked sabers, and was Shira's best friend. Alana was a sandy color, with an orange patch around her right eye and had greyish-blue eyes.

Her mom, named Kylee, replied by saying, "Sure. Why don't you go sit with Shira and I'll give your request to Ricardo, okay?"

"Okay!" Alana replied, smiling. She went to join her friend.

Soon after, the story-telling was approved and had started.

The pack told stories about big adventures with villains and pirates. Shira especially took interest in the pirate tales. She loved pirates and thought they were just about the coolest thing ever. Then, they just sat around and talked; and the kids just played (pirates, of course). (And, of course, Shira was the captain and Alana was 'first mate'.)

While this was happening, Ricardo went up to his two sons, Diego and Soto, and told them to follow him.

"Where are we going, dad?" Soto asked his father, curiously.

"I bet it's somewhere awesome!" Diego exclaimed.

"Alright, let's get going!" Ricardo told his enthusiastic children.

They kept walking until they came to a large clearing, which looked very pretty in the moonlight.

"Now, Sit down. I am going to tell you guys something very important and I want you to take it seriously, got it?" Ricardo told his two kids.

They both obeyed and sat down, curiosity filling their eyes.

"Now, you know that I am pack leader, right?" Diego and Soto nodded. "Well, one day I won't be anymore and someone else will have to become pack leader."

"Someone? Like Uncle Dill?" Diego asked his father. (Diego had come up with 'Uncle Dill' for his Uncle Dylan. The adults found it very hilarious that Diego had named Dylan after a plant. **–A/N-I'm not sure if dill was there in the Ice Age, but whatever…-**)

"Well, no. When I become old, I'll need someone _younger_ than Uncle Dill for the job… like Soto, for instance!"

"I'm going to be pack leader one day?" Soto asked his father, eyes wide.

Ricardo nodded.

"W-w-wait! If Soto is the one who's gonna be pack leader, why am I here?" Diego asked, almost sounding annoyed.

"Not jealous, are you D?" Soto asked, smirking.

"No!" Diego replied quickly.

"Boys!" Ricardo scolded them.

"Sorry!" they both mumbled.

"You are here, Diego, because you will be second-in-command one day. That is almost as important as pack leader, you know!"

"Really?" Diego asked.

"Really."

They sat in silence for a few moments, until Soto broke the silence.

"Dad?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"You care about me and Diego right?"

"Of course, Soto! You're my boys! I love you two fur-balls!" Ricardo replied and rubbed Soto on the head with his paw, affectionately.

Soto smiled. "And… we'll always be together, right?"

Ricardo sighed. "Diego, Soto, let me tell you something my father told me. Do you see all the stars?" The two nodded. "All the great second-in-commands and pack leaders of the past look down on us, watching us."

"Really?" Diego asked in awe. He didn't know that great sabers turned into the magnificent stars of the night sky.

"Yes. So if you ever feel alone or depressed or worried, just remember that all those wise sabers will be there to help you and guide you."

"What about you?" Diego asked him.

"I will be there too one day. But, for now, I'm right here. So, if you have any problems or questions, just remember: I am and always will be here for you."

* * *

**Woohoo! Chapter two is done! Thanks for reading and-**

**Granny: Precious! Precious, where are you sweetie? PRECIOUS!**

**Me: *Sigh*Granny, why are you here? Like I said to Crash, you aren't in this story either!**

**Granny: What's wrong with you, bubble-cakes? That is not a very nice way to speak to an old lady!**

**Me: Bubble-cakes? Is that my nickname? Cool!**

**Granny: Yeah, yeah! I gotta go find Precious! Last time I saw him, he was sitting on a purple rock talking to Snowy and Lady. Have you seen him?**

**Me: No. Sorry, Granny.**

***Granny walks off, grumbling to herself***

**Me: Well, she sure is a crazy one! Please review, so Granny can find Precious… (And btw, thanks for reviewing last chapter! Crash is all cheered up now! Yay!) And hey, did you catch the Lion King reference at the end? Yeah, I just had to put that there! :P **

**(****_Ps. I don't own Ice Age! Or the Lion King…) :)_**


	3. Two Opossums and Betrothed!

**Chapter 3: Betrothed and Two Opossums**

* * *

It was the day after the campfire party, and Soto and Diego have not stopped bragging to the other saber kids that they would be the leaders of the pack one day.

"I'll actually be second-in-command, but technically, I'll be-" Diego started, for the hundredth time, but was interrupted by all the other saber kids, except Soto.

"Pack leader… WE GET IT!"

Diego winced at their sudden yell.

"Geez, guys. You're going to blow up my eardrums!" he said, while putting his paw over his left ear.

The kids, including Alana, were in the clearing near Crysty Waterfall. They were going to play together, but all they were doing was getting speeches from Diego and Soto about their future ranks in the pack.

"Okay, D, we get it. You're excited; it was awesome news for you, but WE DON'T REALLY CARE!" Shira replied, rather harshly, while gritting her teeth.

"Well then…" Diego mumbled under his breath.

"Okay, okay. We're sorry, guys. –Aren't we Diego?!" Soto apologized, and gestured for Diego to do also.

"Yea, sorry… But, like Shira said, we're just excited. But, now we can play!" Diego announced.

"Okay, it's fine. But, please don't talk about it anymore. 'Cause if I hear one more stupid thing about you two idiots being pack leaders today, I will personally rip out-" Allison started angrily, but Chasity cut in.

"Whoa! Cool it, cat! You know what mom said about controlling your temper!" Chasity scolded her sister.

Allison started to slowly calm down, taking deep breaths. The other kids had their eyebrows raised and were silent.

"Can we please just play now?" Cecelia asked them.

"Yea, so what should we play?" Zeke agreed.

"We should be pirates!" Shira told them.

"Shira, we played that last night!" Cecelia told her.

"I know, but I love pirates!"

"We should pretend that we are at war with another pack and we have to fight them!" Oscar suggested.

"No way! I don't want to get my fur dirty!" Allison replied, sounding rather prissy.

"Priss!" Yep, there's the 'clever' remark from Oscar.

"Whiner!" she retorted.

"Baby!"

"Wimp!"

"Cut it out, guys!" Chasity told them, sounding annoyed at their fighting. I don't blame her! Those two won't quit; they're always at each other's throats.

While all of this was going on, Diego decided it was way too boring just sitting there and listening to Allison and Oscar argue, so he discretely left.

"But, he called me a priss!" Allison replied to Chasity who was once again scolding her older sister.

"'Cause you are one!" Oscar told her.

"Why you little-"

"ENOUGH! Would you guys stop fighting?! You sound worse than an old, married couple! And have any of you morons noticed-" Shira started, but was interrupted by Donna:

"Shira! You know what mom said about calling people morons!"

"Oh My Gosh… I don't care. But, anyway, have any of you MORONS noticed that Diego is missing!" Shira replied, making sure she stretched out the word 'morons' really long and said it loudly –to annoy Donna.

"Oh no. Not another tree!" Lenny exclaimed, face-palming at his brother's antics.

"Ugh! Okay, you guys, I'll go look for Diego. Donna, you get Silas –but don't tell our parents or Uncle R and Aunt Cam! They'll go look for him and get him in trouble! And for everyone else, go and ask around to see if anyone has seen him! " Shira instructed the fairly large group.

"Why does it matter if Diego gets in trouble? The four-legged idiot deserves it; he can't stay out of trouble!" Oscar remarked. The other kids were mumbling about how they agreed, but Shira just rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Because, for your information, Oscar, if they find him getting into trouble, they'll blame us for not watching the little brat!"

"Shira, now, it isn't nice to call people brats!"

"Donna, I love you dearly. But… would you please SHUT UP? You're starting to sound like mom!"

Donna looked very offended, but Shira didn't pay any attention to her.

"Come on, guys, let's move!"

Everyone went off to find Diego, and Donna went to find Silas to ask him to fly above the territory and see if he could spot Diego.

**(With Diego)**

'Wow, those two just won't give it a rest. Shira and I don't even fight that much -and I'm glad we don't: she always wins when we do have arguments. Well, she wins because every one of her remarks is as witty as her personality', Diego thought to himself, while trotting along through the territory. But, he didn't notice that he was getting very close to the edge of the pack's territory.

He slowly got tired and lay down under a tree. He was lying there lazily, fiddling with a dandelion that was next to him.

But, suddenly, something hit him in the head. It was small and hard.

Diego shot up, alert, and woke up from his sleepy trance.

He listened to the quiet for about a minute or two, when another object hit him in the head.

He winced and looked at what hit him. It was a small, round pebble.

He then turned around abruptly and looked up. There sat two small possums on a branch protruding from the tree he was under. They looked around his age, also. They were holding spitball guns, somehow made from wood, rounded into tubes. They were laughing at him and high-fived each other with their free hands.

They looked almost identical: they both had dark brown fur with light brown stripes, except one had blue eyes, the other had brown eyes; and one had a brown stripe across his nose and the other didn't.

Diego had an annoyed, almost angry, look on his face and yelled up to them, "You rats are gonna get it!"

The one with the brown stripe across his face looked at Diego and replied, "Actually, we aren't rats!"

"Yea, we're possums!" the other agreed.

Diego rolled his eyes. "Yea, I know that! It was an insult!"

Crash and Eddie just sat there and blinked.

"Whatever. I'm leaving!"

But, unfortunately for Diego, the possums wanted to provoke the tiger more and shot more rocks at him.

"Why you little! You better run, you miscreants!"

The two opossums looked at each other. "Miscreants?"

The tiger growled at the two. Now, he may have only been merely a cub, but he was still a saber-tooth tiger with long scary teeth! So, that sent the two fearful opossums running, screaming things like 'Ellie,' 'Ah!' and 'A tiger is chasing us!'

"I'll get you two idiot-possums!" Diego yelled, his voice actually sounding menacing, well, menacing for his age.

The two possums finally arrived at their 'savior'.

Ellie was a mammoth, also around Diego's age. She had reddish-brown fur and green eyes. She had a very sweet, spunky personality and was very friendly. She could also be a bit sassy sometimes.

She was just strolling around in the woods.

"We are, we are, not your ordinary fam-a-ma-ly," she sang cheerily to herself.

Ellie stopped to pick a dandelion from the ground, with her trunk, when she heard two familiar voices calling her name frantically.

"Ellie! Ellie! A saber is chasing us!" Eddie called to her.

"Yeah! He's gonna eat us! What are we going to do?" Crash added.

"A saber? Oh no. Um… Oh! I know. Let's play dead. Quickly!" Ellie told them. Okay: I might have left out one thing when I was describing Ellie. Well, Ellie kind of thinks she is a possum. Yea, I really don't know how or why, since this story doesn't go into detail about Ellie's past… But, anyway, back to the story.

The three animals dropped to the ground with a thud.

Diego was still chasing after them and arrived shortly after they fell to the ground. When he got there, he smirked. He saw two possums lying there, playing dead. (He knew they were playing dead because his mother and father taught him and his brothers about animals and such. –So, he learned that possums play dead as a defense mechanism.) He also saw a… mammoth? …also playing dead. Well, he didn't expect that…

He walked over to the two opossums and flicked the one with brown eyes.

Eddie sat up and looked at Crash angrily.

Eddie slapped his brother and said, "Hey! What did I ever do to you?"

Crash looked back at him with the same expression and said, "What are you gonna do about it?"

They both started bickering, and Ellie also sat up.

"Guys! Would you cut it out? You're going to get us killed!" she yelled at them.

Diego couldn't handle the bickering. It was driving him nuts!

So, he spoke: "Guys! Hello? Please stop fighting! …And, I'm not going to kill you. I don't eat possum; my mom said they taste extremely badly. And, the mammoth is too cute…" He blushed when he said the last part.

But, Ellie just looked at him in confusion.

"Mammoth?" she said in a confused tone. "Oh, never mind. Hi! I'm Ellie. And these are my brothers Crash," she pointed to the possum with the blue eyes. "And Eddie!" She gestured to the other. "What's your name?"

The whole time she said that, she had a smile so big, it stretched right across her whole face. Crash and Eddie had stopped bickering, also. They were now checking the saber out. Crash was examining Diego's long sabers, and Eddie was poking at the long claws protruding from his paws.

"The name's Diego. I like your name! It sounds pretty." What? It's not like he has a crush or anything on Ellie, but, come on, Ellie is too nice and cheery to not instantly like. Diego thought she was exactly that and liked her spunk. He thought she would be a great person to play with, but, he didn't know about her possum friends. They kind of annoyed him. He was confused as to why she referred to the possums as her brothers, but didn't ask. He didn't want to be rude. Hey, he was raised right! He had manners, unlike those two possums. Who goes up to someone and starts searching them like they're a science project?

**Meanwhile… (With Donna)**

Donna was strolling along, looking for Silas, and was right in front of her, her sisters and her parents' cave, when she heard voices. She looked inside and saw her parents, her Aunt Cameron, Uncle Ricardo, Silas and some of the elders of the pack, including her grandma.

She went to the side of the cave, but peeked around the entrance so she was in hearing distance.

**(In the cave)**

"I still think this is an unfair idea. They should be able to be with whoever they want to be with!" Bela said stubbornly.

"I think it's a great idea. They are going to be top of the pack one day! So will your children, if we do this! And your cubs are the strongest female cubs there are, so…" Ricardo retorted.

You are probably so confused. So, I'll explain. You see, the elders and the cubs' parents, well, except for Bela, thought it would be a great idea for their cubs to become mates one day. So, they are having a meeting to discuss who will be mates with who.

"Silence." Bela's mother, who was an elder, interrupted. "Bela, this is happening whether you like it or not. And we are not here to discuss if we are doing it or not! Now, let's get thinking. Who would make a good mate for Soto?"

Bela sighed. Cameron spoke up: "I think Shira would. She is the strongest of the girls, most beautiful, most intelligent and has incredible wit."

"That's settled than. Shira is betrothed to Soto. Now Diego…" Bela's mother agreed.

"I think Donna would be great for Diego," Dylan told her.

"What about Oscar?"

"How about Allison?" Ricardo suggested.

"Nu-uh! They fight too much!" Bela shot back.

"Yes, but they're children. They'll grow up; everyone does. Anyway, enough of discussing them, what about Zeke and Lenny?" Ricardo explained.

"I want Cecelia with Lenny and Chasity with Zeke," Bela told them in a stubborn tone. She still didn't approve.

"Then it's settled. Your children are now betrothed!" Bela's mother announced.

Outside of the cave, Donna was still listening.

'Betrothed? What's that?'

She then saw Silas flying away from the cave and called out to him.

"Silas?! Hey!"

Silas flew down and landed on a medium-sized rock near Donna.

"Hello, mon soeur!"

"Hey. I've been looking all over for you! We kind of lost Diego."

"Oh no. What did ze little trouble-maker get into zis time?" he exclaimed in his French-accent.

"I dunno. He just, kind of, left! And now we don't know where he is. I checked with Shira about ten minutes ago, and she still can't find him. I hope he didn't leave the territory!"

"Let's go find him!"

With that, the two left to find Diego, Silas flying high in the sky, trying to spot him.

**(With Diego)**

"Would you guys please stop poking at me?" Diego asked Crash and Eddie.

"Crash! Eddie! It isn't polite to search strangers," Ellie scolded her brothers. "I'm sorry. They're kind of always like this." She told Diego.

"It's okay. Anyway, what are you doing in my pack's territory? I'm not trying to sound mean or anything; I'm just wondering," he asked the spunky mammoth with a smile.

"We aren't in your territory. See, look over there. That's the edge of your territory. I know because my dad told me, Crash and Eddie," she told them.

Diego's smile faded immediately. Oh no! He left the territory! If he got caught he'd be in big trouble.

"Oh My Gosh! I've gotta go! Sorry, Ellie! Maybe we'll see each other again!" Diego replied.

"You've gotta go? Aw, okay. I hope I see you again, Diego. You seem nice, for a saber."

"Heh, well I've been told I'm soft on multiple occasions. And, you seem nice, too. Well, bye!"

On that note, he set off for the clearing near Crysty Waterfall.

He arrived there, to find everyone was missing.

'I wonder where they went?' he asked himself.

Just then he felt something force him to the ground.

"Where've you been, softie? We've been lookin' everywhere for you!"

Turns out, Shira had jumped on him from behind.

"I was just visiting a friend… Can you get off me?"

"Fine." Shira got off Diego and looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "Friend? Which 'friend' did you go see?"

"If you need to know, her name is Ellie," he replied.

"Never heard of her. Is she in our pack?" she asked him.

"Well, not exactly. See she's kind of a mammoth."

Shira just looked at him with a funny face. "Huh? A mammoth… Okay, then. Never mind…"

At that moment, Silas and Donna came racing into the clearing.

"Diego!" Donna called.

"Oh, great. Hey, Donna!"

"Diego, where in the whole wide wold of whales have you been?"

Diego looked at Shira and whispered, "Whales?"

Shira shrugged.

"I was just visiting someone."

"Yeah, he was just visiting his mammoth girlfriend," Shira said irritably, trying to bug Diego.

"She isn't my girlfriend!"

Shira stuck her tongue out at him.

"Wow. You're such a baby." Now, that's going to start a fight. Good job, Diego!

"Uh! Yeah, well you're a wimp." I was riiight!

"Whiner!"

"Crybaby!"

"Chasity!" Donna called out to her sister, who had entered the clearing with the other cubs.

"Yeah, Chasity!" Diego said with a smirk. His smirk faded. "Wait, what?"

"Not you, her!" Donna told him, gesturing to Chasity.

"I'm just glad we found you, mon frère. If I had lost you, I probably would have gotten my head bitten off by your father." Silas piped in.

"Oh, Silas. Can I ask you something?" Donna asked the blue-footed bird.

"Ask away!"

"What does 'betrothed' mean?"

"Well, ze word means that two people are to be married to each other. They are to become mates."

Her eyes went wide. "Wait, WHAT?!"

"What's wrong, Don?" Alana asked her.

"I overheard my parents, the guys' parents, the elders and Silas talking. They said we're gonna be married!"

"What? Who's 'marrying' who?" Shira asked, feeling a little sick.

"You're gonna be mates with Soto, I'm gonna be with Diego, Allison with Oscar, Zeke with Chasity and Lenny with Cecelia," she said carefully. She didn't want any mauling going on.

Everyone's eyes went wide, even Alana's, and Allison screamed. Heh, heh. Well, let me tell you: everyone felt pretty awkward after that announcement.

* * *

**Hello, my friends! I am truly sorry for taking SOoOoOo long to write this! But, I'm lazy… Yeah, it isn't the best quality. But, I had some inspiration and sat down -and forced myself to write! ;) I hope it turned out okay! :)**

**Crash: Yes! I was actually in this chapter.**

**Me: Well, I can't have a story without two annoying possums, can I! Anyway, please review! :D**


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